sueoz

Hi - We are going to California in April. Most of our trip will be outdoors stuff (hiking, kayaking, etc.) during the days. We wanted to experience Hearst Castle but not take up a chunk of day time to do it. Has anyone done the evening tour? Can you tell me about it - how early do they start? Is it still light enough to see the grounds and views? Sounds great on their web site, but would like some first hand information. Thanks.
sue

JBC411

sue, the first thing for you to find out is if the evening tour will even be given the days you will be at the castle. I have never taken it, but in helping someone else with their castle tour plans I discovered, to my surprise, that in the months it is offered it is not given nightly, but only one or two nights a week.

Probably this is because of the difficulty of gathering together all the volunteer actors required to play parts in the re-creation of a night at the Castle, as it was when it was full of guests, that is part of the evening tour.

I recommend you follow the advice on the web site and call 1-800-444-4445 to find out if it will be offered on a night you can take it.

I think the evening tour has much to recommend it if you are there on the right days, because it gives you an overview of the highlights of three of the four tours. How light it is for how much of the tour will vary depending on what month it is.

It is true that the fantastic long-distance views you get on a clear day from the castle are some of the best things about it, so if there's a choice to be made, that's something you'd have to weigh.

On the other hand, I think the outdoor pool, probably the most beautiful feature of the Castle, if lit skillfully would look just fantastic at night, and I'd love to see that.

architectlink

I am an architect and my husband bought the entire tour for a day with a guide...it was well worth it. I've heard the other tours are too short.

JBC411

Topping for Sueoz. Despite my warning above that in the season it's given, I believe the evening tour is only offered one or two nights a week, I too would be interested to hear evaluations from anyone who has actually taken it.

MichelleY

Dear sueoz:

We took the evening tour in Nov. 2002. It began about 5 p.m. and we took in the sunset from the outdoor pool. We were lucky because the fog was just rolling in. We enjoyed this very much. It included one of the guest houses, the main drawing room and dining room, kitchen, upstairs guest wing and Mr. Hearst's and Ms Davies private quarters.
It was also very fun because docent play the parts of guests of Mr. Hearst and are dressed in 1930's outfits.

I believe this tour is only offered during certain times of the year and only on weekends. But there website should have more current info.

This tour was really fun, but doing a day tour is not a waste of time.

MY

TerryLFred

My husband and I just took the evening tour on December 26. It was great! Our tour was at 5:30 p.m. (that's the time we got on the bus) and we were back at the vistor center around 7:50 p.m. We've been to the castle before and took a couple of day tours before but this was our first evening tour. To us it was the best tour of all. But I also agree that if you can't do the evening tour, I would still recommnend going on a daytime tour. The castle is worth seeing no matter what.